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apothecary

Pacific 'rubbish superhighway' going unnoticed

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Fuck we have fucked this planet up.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/01/2079239.htm

A vast rubbish dump, which covers an area bigger than Australia, is floating in the Pacific Ocean and research shows it is growing bigger.

The rubbish collects in one area because of a clockwise trade wind that circulates around the Pacific rim.

In his Tasmanian-built research vessel, Captain Charles Moore has just returned from a trip through the plastic stew floating between Hawaii and San Francisco.

"Toothbrushes are quite common, plastic bags are quite common, soap bottles are quite common, we've been finding a good many umbrella handles, minus the umbrella," he said.

"We find toolboxes, and oddly enough an item that seems to be quite prevalent now is plastic hard hats. I found one upside down with fish living in the upturned helmet."

The rubbish patch is extremely remote - it takes a week to reach it in a boat.

Captain Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, says the eastern part of what is labelled the "Pacific Garbage Patch" is joined by a rubbish superhighway to a western collection of debris off Japan.

"We're talking about an area larger than the continent of Australia," he said.

Captain Moore says the marine debris between Hawaii and California contains 40 times more plastic than plankton.

"The currents make the identifiable plastic come mostly from Asia, because it arrives rather quickly, whereas the North American debris takes over five years in some cases to get to this garbage patch," he said.

"In that period of time it's broken into bits, and we can't see any writing on it, so we can't trace it back to the United States.

"It's certainly true that all the countries bordering the Pacific contribute to this garbage patch."

Global effort

He says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was mounting a clean-up effort to rid the ocean of "extremely destructive" nets.

"It's like rolling a giant mesh bowling ball against the coral reef when they hit land, and the waves push them across and it rips out all the coral and tangles the endangered monk seal - the only tropical seal," he added.

Dr Holly Bamford is the director of the marine debris program at the NOAA.

She says the NOAA is considering flying unmanned aircraft over the oceanic rubbish dump to collect more data.

"What these vehicles can do is they can be launched from platforms of vessels, and they can skim pretty close to the surface of the water," she said.

"Once it detects an anomaly, which means if it detects something on the ocean surface, it would record that, and then that would come back to the vessel."

Because the floating landfill lies in international waters, there is not a lot of political will to attempt a massive clean-up.

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Fuck it makes me sad to see things like this, not surprised in any way, but very sad to know that im part of these issues, like really how many of us avoid 'packaging' when we can? I know i have grown more conscious of these things, like packaging from lollies, foods, plastic bags ect in the last year or so but certainly haven't completely stopped wasting things like this *like WTF am i supposed to do with spare mars barz rappers?? why should these things be a 'norm' in everyday life??

And the things i do throw out may not end up in the pacific ocean but they are always gonna end up somewhere..

I used to work at WSN at Eastern Creek, for those of you that dont know thats WesternSydneyWasteManagement.. Pretty much the tip and it was crazy to see that out of the things that people do recycle about 80-85% of it ends up in landfill.. Makes me thing whats the freakin point!!

Also we now have the facilities to burn all(or most) the methane gasses produced by landfil to create electricity to go back into the grid, but even though they have a fully functioning turbine there, it is not used WTF!!!

Environmentalists who have asked me what i think needs to happen to turn the world around, and to fix these issues think im weird and a crazy extremist when i tell them that i believe the only real (and effective) way to deal with these problems is to get to the root of them and although it is absolutely unfeasible and unimaginable, i think the only way we will fully fix the world we live in is to undergo full global scale culling of the people responsible (me and you) and i know i really dont wanna die yet but when it comes to the crunch, how many out do? how many ppl out there drive a car, and those that dont how many use public transport? How many can say that each week that their garbage bin is completely empty because they havent wasted a thing, and how many people are using a computer running on electricity, made from plastic derived from hydro-carbons and metal mined from the earth in huge quantities leaving gaping holes or unstable voids??

We are the problem and it makes me really sad to know that it is me and my kin..

All i can say is we are but a speck in time and this planet will live on, with or without us, and by the path we are creating it looks like it will do a hell of a lot better without us..

Peace

By the way don't get the wrong impression, I don't mean for you to run out and kill your neighbour because he is watering his lawn maybe just try to tell him that his lawn is crap anyways, and to use the water more consciously, as well as any and all the resources we use and that have been provided..

Edited by JustAskSally

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I remember seeing this on a doco a while ago, it was truely revolting and very, very sad,.

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Lex Luther as Gene Hackman said I like beach front property.

Makes you wonder why its even mention it.

Spray something on it so condenses into a hopefully floating polymeric mass.

Then proclaim a new oceanic kingdom.

Or just have a giant sucking garbage scow do so using the plastic to fuel the incredible machine.

At the tax payer expense in all cases.

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hehe, yeah like that guy that made his own island out of softdrink bottles.

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i wonder if its visible on google earth, id love to see it.

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a much, much longer article was posted this year. definitely worth digging up. i couldn't believe it.

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